LSU's 2012 recruiting class might be remembered for the ones that got away before National Signing Day, and one that got away on the tail end. LSU Coach Les Miles is counting on those negatives being forgotten in the span of four years, like the class four years ago that matured into the leaders of last season's Southeastern Conference champions.

Tamika Morre / The Birmingham NewsOxford (Ala.) High School linebacker Kwon Alexander chose LSU on national television Wednesday. He made his point by pulling off a warmup to reveal LSU suspenders and a purple-and-gold bow tie, then added an LSU hat.

"This is a class that answers our needs," Miles said of the 22 newcomers. "In 2008 we did not have a top 10 ranked class. This year would have been that senior group, and we won 13 games and a conference title. It wouldn't have fit that rank of our class."

This one is falling out of the top 10 again, according to ESPN.com, which ranks LSU 14th, and Rivals.com, which has the Tigers 16th. Scout.com was a little more generous, keeping the Tigers at No. 7.

But LSU was certainly rocked by the day's end. Shreveport-Woodlawn's Toshiro Davis, the No. 2 recruit and highly rated linebacker nationally who had been committed to LSU for a full year, signed with Texas.

Added to the fact that the No. 1 Louisiana recruit -- five-star safety Landon Collins -- went to Alabama, nationally renowned quarterback Gunner Kiel backed out of his LSU commitment for Notre Dame and offensive lineman Patrick Miller was lost to Auburn because of a numbers snafu, continued to stagger a fan base still feeling the pain of a 21-0 setback to the Crimson Tide in the BCS championship game on Jan. 9 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Davis' decision soured the good news earlier in the day when Oxford (Ala.) High School linebacker Kwon Alexander chose LSU on national television. He made his point by pulling off a warmup to reveal LSU suspenders and a purple-and-gold bow tie, then added an LSU hat.

Miles was apparently miffed about Davis' surprise announcement but made only an opaque reference to it, admitting LSU was caught off guard.

"Recruiting this year was a little unusual," Miles said. "I ran into some third-party influential pieces. (There were) some lessons learned we'll have to deal with as we go forward. I intend to compete in recruiting. I promise we will do so."

Davis told one reporter part of the reason he changed his mind was that "some of the players don't seem happy down there."

Later, he told the Shreveport Times: "I've been committed to LSU, but a relationship started building with (Texas assistant) Bo Davis. Every time I talked to him, we never talked about football. We talked about life and life after football. You can't play this game forever."

Miles was resolute.

"Those things happen," he said. "We did not know we were going to have a defection late; we had no idea. When somebody goes in another direction, frankly, there's some things we can't control."

What the Tigers were able to control was filling their needs. They brought in five linebackers, five defensive backs and one big quarterback. Miles said Alexander has a good chance to play early, with three starters departing.

Alexander missed most of his senior season with a torn ACL but still was considered the No. 3 outside linebacker recruit by ESPN.com and Scout.com. As a junior he had 144 tackles, 17 sacks, six forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries for Elkins High School in Missouri City, Texas -- a Houston suburb.

"Kwon was one of the fastest, most athletic men we saw on film," Miles said.

Miles also lauded the other linebacker signees -- Lorenzo Phillips of Patterson, Deion Jones of Jesuit, Trey Granier of Thibodaux and Ronnie Feist of West St. John, who is enrolled.

"Year in year out this is the best LB class I've seen," Miles said.

LSU also added a quarterback, 6-foot-3, 270-pound Jeremy Liggins, who endeared himself to Miles when he committed Monday night.

Liggins, who guided Lafayette High School of Oxford to consecutive Class 4A state titles and 32 consecutive victories, went public with his intentions at the Oxford Square.

"I recommended he not stand up in the square at Oxford and tell everybody he was going (to LSU)," Miles said. "He said, 'I enjoy these people. These people are my home. I want to make my announcement there.' I felt that was a big-chested, straightforward way to conduct business. He became a better prospect to me the way he handled his business."

Liggins passed for 1,678 yards and 16 touchdowns and rushed for 953 yards and 18 scores.

Miles said LSU will not sign any more players and that any left over scholarships would go to current players, but that he was satisfied with the class.

"It's still very much our philosophy to give every in-state great player an opportunity to play in Louisiana," Miles said. "We worked hard in this state. We identified who we thought were the best players and went after them hard.

"It's always going to be about character, integrity and toughness, and what they want, how ambitious are the people. This class will give us the opportunity to play for championships."